Recycling has never been easier. Here we find out tips and sources of information on becoming a more environmentally friendly household
Recycling has rarely been more important than it is now. With environmental issues frequently grabbing the headlines and a raft of recycling initiatives recently launched, it's becoming easier all the time.
Over 50 per cent of household waste can be recycled or composted, but UK households currently only recycle up to 12 per cent. And with so many methods available to help you recycle your waste, there is little excuse for not doing your bit.
In fact, the solution to minimising your household waste and disposing of it in the right way is about more than just recycling. A now commonly used slogan is 'reduce, reuse, recycle', which suggests that there’s more to the process than simply taking your empties to the local bottle bank (although that's a good place to start!)
Reduce
Before you think about recycling your waste, think about how to reduce the amount of waste produced by your household in the first place. Avoid buying food and products which are heavily packaged – this simple step will avoid you being left with lots of empty packaging to dispose of!
In addition, you can buy products which come in refill packs, such as detergents and some foodstuffs, to help keep your rubbish to a minimum.
ReuseGet more use out of some of your household items, instead of just throwing them away.
For example, reuse items such as plastic carrier bags. According to the recycle-more website, each person in the UK uses an average of 134 plastic bags each year. This figure could be slashed if we put more effort into keeping and reusing them.
Turn old clothes into rags for cleaning, use old newspaper to clear up after pets, use old glass jars as storage jars – with a little imagination you could do a lot to reduce the amount of waste generated by your home.
Recycle
There are plenty of opportunities for you to recycle. Most local councils now run recycling schemes, and will collect your recyclable waste together with your household rubbish. If you don't already benefit from a service like this, you should soon; the Household Waste Recycling Act 2003 requires local authorities in England to provide kerbside collections for their residents by 2010, so you're entitled to lobby your local council to offer recycling if they don't already do so.
Top recycling tips
The first step is to find out where your nearest recycling facilities are. As well as putting out your recyclables for collection, you can also do your bit by nipping down to the bottle and paper banks when necessary
If you have a garden, think about composting. It's a great way of recycling a lot of your kitchen waste and other natural materials. To get the most out of recycling you'll have to buy a composter, but this shouldn't break the bank and they're available from many DIY and household stores
Parents can consider using traditional terry-towelling nappies on their babies, instead of disposable ones, which generate a lot of waste. Don't worry about being squeamish – you can now buy disposable liners for them!
One of the trickiest aspects of recycling is finding out what can be recycled and what can't. If your weekly shopping contains an assortment of plastic bottles, glass jars, cardboard cartons and newspapers, you need to know what can be disposed of in the right way. The website recycle-more.co.uk contains a really useful list of the symbols you will usually find on household packaging materials. This will help to take the guesswork out of your recycling and will tell you whether a particular piece of packaging is recyclable, and if so, what you should do with it
As well as recycling your own household waste, make the effort to purchase products that are made from recycled materials. To find out more about what products are made from recycled goods, visit recycledproducts.org.uk
Put an end to receiving junk mail, which you'll probably end up throwing away. Under the Data Protection Act you are entitled to opt out of receiving junk mail through the post, and can do so by contacting the Mailing Preference Service. Find out more at mpsonline.org.uk
Consider buying a shredder to destroy any sensitive personal or financial documents that you are disposing of. Given the recent publicity around identity theft, it might pay to prevent your information falling into the wrong hands.
Mixed material packaging like drinks cartons can be harder to recycle than materials such as paper or glass – there is only one suitable facility in the UK – located in Fife, Scotland. You can send your drinks cartons there to be recycled but you have to pay the postage. More information can be found at drinkscartons.com.